A special "Love Plus Merry Plumas Campaign" (Plusmas, geddit?) ran at three Tokyo-area cake shops — with each cafe selling a different version of the Love Plus girls, Nene, Rinko and Manaka. The lines at the cake shops stretched over a hundred strong with the special cakes selling out.

Famitsu.com notes that there were even female Love Plus fans buying cake, too.

The delicious deserts came with a AR card that when used with a web camera would produce the Love Plus lovelies.

販売2時間以上前に完売！　『ラブプラス』ケーキを求める彼氏大集合 - ファミ通.com

Located right up the street from Shibuya 109, Love Plus is also a newly opened massage parlor. Look, there are girls in school uniforms, kinda like in the Konami game and a billion other video games in Japan.

But this love plus has step ladders.

And massage chairs.

Relaxing! On the establishment's homepage, it is made clear several times that this is not a place of prostitution and customers who put the make on therapists or try to get them to remove their clothes will be asked to leave. Doesn't sound like this place of business is being coy, maybe honest?

The goal here is relaxation — and climbing stairs!

Forty minutes is priced at ¥7,000, not including the ¥1,000 entrance fee. That's more expensive than Love Plus the game, and people can play it longer than forty minutes.

道玄坂に１８禁ラブプラスがオープンしたみたいです（お子様閲覧禁止 [読みゲー]

Going on sale next March, the box set will retail for ¥21,000. Which in US dollars is $232. That's a lot, but then, remember, it's on 19 discs. Break that up and it's a steal, at $12.20 a disc!

Sadly, there's no pics of the sure-to-be-amazing box the collection will come on, but we do know that some of the soundtracks featured include the MSX2 version of the original Castlevania, Castlevania Legends, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia and the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.

There are 18 discs worth of soundtrack, the 19th disc being a DVD containing interviews and some behind-the-scenes footage of the music being recorded.

悪魔城ドラキュラ Best Music Collection BOX [Amazon, via Original Sound Version]

It's an early Christmas present for MGS fans from Konami! Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker: Demo-Ops is hitting the PlayStation Store later today, giving fans a taste of four different mission types with content previously playable at the Tokyo Game Show and "more." Ooo, more. I like more. I don't know what "more" entails, but I know what I like.

The free demo will be available later today on PSN, with several other gaming sites hosting it as well, in case you are allergic to the PlayStation Store or something. The full game drops May 25th, so hopefully they've got enough gameplay in there to keep fans satiated for another five months.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories tells a very different version of the first Silent Hill game, chronicling writer and father Harry Mason's horrific search for his missing daughter Cheryl. Having unfortunately lost her in the town of Silent Hill after a car crash, Harry takes to the streets, sewers and dilapidated haunts of the accursed town to recover her. In Shattered Memories, Harry is equipped with some new tricks, including a multi-functional cell phone that acts as his map, camera and a source for many of the clues that flesh out the re-imagining's story. Developers Climax Studios also have a new trick up their sleeves, the psychological profiling of the player throughout the game, offering a personalized experience during each playthrough.

And in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Harry is more lover than fighter. The game features none of the traditionally awkward combat for which the series is somewhat infamous, favoring frantic escapes over clunky confrontations. Including Cheryl, there are plenty of things missing from this Silent Hill. Will longtime fans miss the series' trademarks? Or is Shattered Memories a cool, refreshing update to a franchise in need of a new perspective?

Loved
A Retelling, Not A Remake: Shattered Memories is thankfully more than just a warmed over version of Silent Hill, tacking on Wii Remote controls and updated graphics. It is a very different account of the events following Cheryl Mason's disappearance. Trying to fit the game's storyline within the canon of the rest of the Silent Hill universe is an exercise in futility, an exercise that will likely cease at the game's conclusion. Climax Studios was smart not to offer an obvious, cleaned up rehash, giving the Silent Hill fan something to pick apart and appreciate as a side story to the series.

Profiling: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is peppered with interactive intermissions in the form of therapy sessions with the unusual Dr. K, a psychologist who has the player perform a battery of tests. You know, the kind where there are no right answers. The player's responses to each test will substantially change the characters, the settings, and the flow of the adventure, even the screeching beasts that hunt Harry Mason in Silent Hill's otherworld. The options for changing one's Silent Hill experience and its endings are less cryptic than in previous games, making the story worth revisiting, worth experimenting with. While this Silent Hill may be the shortest of the bunch—my first playthrough lasted somewhere around six hours—it is designed with replays in mind, chances to change the world while having one's head examined. Oh, and did I mention that Shattered Memories spins one of the more interesting yarns of the series, capably delivered with smart symbolism? Because it does that too.

Silent Hill On Ice: As much as I enjoy the rusty, bloodstained, throbbing otherworld of Silent Hills past, it's well worn territory. Shattered Memories doesn't recycle those familiar nightmarish environments, instead choosing to establish its own alternate world, one claustrophobic and frozen. Granted, it's nowhere near as frightening or visually stunning, but Shattered Memories deserves credit for doing its own thing.

Smart Use Of Wii Controls: The Wii Remote acts as a pretty good flashlight, a fact not lost on most Wii developers, including Climax. Illuminating one's way around the town of Silent Hill is satisfying, as is the act of using the remote as your disembodied hand while searching for clues. With shooting and hand-to-hand combat abstracted from the Shattered Memories experience, the games simplified control scheme makes one appreciate not having to deal with previously awkward mechanics.

Hated
Running Down A Dream: As interesting as Silent Hill: Shattered Memories' chase scenes—Nightmares, the game calls them—would have been as a complement to more traditional monster encounters, the game unfortunately relies on them as the only action sequences you'll experience throughout the game. It's fairly repetitive, expectation setting stuff. Normally, you'll explore, find keys, hunt down messages, open doors, but when the town of Silent Hill freezes over, just... run! The Silent Hill series' combat has never been that much "fun," mind you, but replacing all of it with running toward blue markers and shaking off leathery demons with Wii Remote thrusts isn't any more enjoyable. Worse, the sense of tension elsewhere in the game is practically non-existent, thanks to the clear division between action moments and exploration moments.

Losing My Bearings: The game may feature solid use of Wii Remote controls, but the motion controlled camera-flashlight combo can be disorienting, especially when hopping down from ledges during Nightmares. The GPS-style map system on Harry's phone is less useful than any previous Silent Hill in-game map and painful to manipulate during portions of the game. Finally, one moment in the game drops the player into a nearly pure black abyss, an exasperating search for radio static.

Quality Assurance: A pair of bugs, one involving falling through the world and into blackness, the other turning Harry into a disembodied arm holding a cell phone, less than a complete human—making the game unplayable and forcing a reload—happened to me during my first playthrough. Not outlandishly frustrating, since the game lets the player save at any point on Harry's cell phone, but bothersome nonetheless. The game also experiences some slowdown when Harry opens doors, which is more frustrating, especially during panic-filled chase scenes.

Perhaps appropriately, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories left me torn. On the one hand, I was appreciative of Climax Studios' effort to bring something new to the series, blazing a potential new path for future Silent Hill adventures, where the same environments and aged mechanics needn't be revisited. And, better, Shattered Memories doles out a well-told, fairly blunt story, somewhat atypical for the series. Straightforward though the tale may be, sequences and allusions throughout that may seem like storytelling stumbles gel later on, giving the player something to ponder after the game's surprising conclusion.

But as with pretty much every Silent Hill game beyond Silent Hill 3, I was left somewhat disappointed. I personally enjoy the horrific creations that populate the rustier, bloodier underbelly of Silent Hill. And I like confounding, abstract puzzles. And I like bizarre boss fights, disturbing monster design, mood-setting music and hallucinogenic fear. Shattered Memories doesn't have any of that; the scares are few, the monsters nearly nonexistent and the Akira Yamaoka composed soundtrack... well, I barely remember any of it.

It may not appeal to the Silent Hill fan in me, one who's been regularly disappointed since 2003, but at least this re-imagining shatters expectations.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories was developed by Climax Studios and published by Konami for the Wii on December 8. Retails for $49.99 USD. PlayStation 2 and PSP versions are due later for $29.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played game to completion on Wii. Experienced a second, different playthrough until about the halfway mark.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

What do you think? How are your hype levels for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, particularly after having seen this Dracula underling? I'm more excited than I have been for any of the 3D Castlevania games, but I've also played three 3D Castlevania games, so it won't take much at this point.

Early Christmas Present... [Twitpic]

In the play's official blog, there are images of the play's unpainted cardboard props and painted props.

Know what is scarier than any Silent Hill stage play? Series musician and producer Akira Yamaoka leaving Konami.

Välkommen Till Silent Hill [Official Site via GoNintendo via Joystiq]

The official Halo Waypoint Twitter account brings word of Tojima's hire, the second—that we know of—former Kojiima Productions staffer to join Microsoft in its Halo-expanding endeavors. Ryan Payton, assistant producer on Metal Gear Solid 4, joined the internal Halo team late last year.

Sounds like Konami and crew may have a little difficulty as of late in keeping their audio talent interested in sustaining their employment at the Japanese publisher. Regardless of Konami's musical staffing problems, we look forward to what the combination of all that talent and the backing of the Halo franchise will bring.

Snake's '70s era sneak attack will hit North American PSPs just a few days before Europe gets a crack at it, a little more than two months after the game launches in Japan. The follow-up to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater features an original scenario from Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima and a "unique new game system designed specifically with the PSP in mind," according to Konami.

We've already checked in with Konami USA to see what the publisher's plans are for PSPgo owners who may want to download the game at launch. Quick Update: Konami reps say "There will be a download sku as well as a UMD sku available at launch." Yay!

Might have to wait just a little longer. Konami have announced that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will be out on the PSP in the UK on May 28, 2010.

So a two month delay at the longest. Remember; the US release might be in between.

Video game music blog Original Sound Version cites a forthcoming interview with Yamaoka that confirms his departure from the Japanese publisher. OSV doesn't offer much in the way of specifics, but with Silent Hill development shifting outside of Japan, perhaps Yamaoka is interested in working on something else.

Confirmed: Akira Yamaoka Resigns from Konami [Original Sound Version]

Starring Naked Snake, the game takes place in Costa Rica during the 1970s — 10 years after Metal Gear Solid 3 and chronicling the rise of Outer Heaven.

Check out our impressions from this year's Tokyo Game Show.

Adorned with both the logo for the Winning Eleven series and the UEFA Champions League - the game's main selling point these days, since it's the one piece of prestigious licensing Konami have over rivals FIFA - they'll hit shelves on December 10, and be priced at ¥21,000 (USD$240).

Yamaoka's trademark music and sounds are very much part of the Silent Hill experience. He has been producer of the series since Silent Hill 3. If this is in fact true, no word why Yamaoka has left the company, but Kotaku is following up with Konami.

Akira Yamaoka Leaves Konami After 16 Years [Aeropause Games via GoNintendo] [Pic]

That is according to Jeremy Bolt, who is Anderson's co-producer on Resident Evil: Afterlife. Visiting that film's set, the site ShockTillYouDrop.com says it spoke to Bolt, who "told us this morning that Paul W.S. Anderson is still circling video game adaptation Castlevania at Rogue Pictures and that they are waiting on a script."

"Bolt added that he and Anderson would like to adapt Konami's Metal Gear Solid for the big screen at Columbia Pictures," ShockTillYouDrop.com added.

You can check out Paul W.S. Anderson's filmography here but he ain't no Bergman. Please note that none of this confirms Anderson has anything to do with the Metal Gear project.

Paul W.S. Anderson Still Circling Castlevania [ShockTillYouDrop.com]

A piece running on Yahoo! News Japan (translated by AltJapan) summed up the difference between Western and Japanese games: "There is a big difference in the way emotion is handled in Japan and abroad. Abroad, hero characters tend to be portrayed as powerful males, but in Japan squashed and cute little boys are the norm. The Japanese preference for see small-statured pretty-boys wielding big swords seems to be greeted abroad with a resounding 'no way.'"

This paradigm does not hold true to sports game, the article notes. So when Japanese developers depict real teams and real players, the only option is to depict them realistically — and the vast majority of professional athletes are not small pretty boys!

Thus, Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer franchise is a big hit in the West, and ditto for EA Sports title FIFA 10. Neither title carries the cultural baggage pervasive in other genre games.

Fantasy and Football [AltJapan]

I'm pleased to say that, for the first time since the PlayStation 2 era, significant changes have been made to Konami's long-running series. But are they enough to help the genre's former powerhouse win back some of the ground lost to FIFA over the past few seasons? Let's find out.

Loved
Welcome To 2009 - Konami finally worked out that games released on current generation hardware need to look like current generation games, and have given the game's graphics a serious overhaul. While animation is still a little clunky, the lighting, stadiums and especially player kits and likenesses have seen massive improvements, to the point where they stand well ahead of FIFA's.

Front And Centre - Another of Pro Evo's more archaic elements — the game's front end and menu system — has also been overhauled. It's now simpler, more attractive, and most important of all, quicker, meaning you can get in, make your necessary adjustments and get back into the action.

Online Play - Hooray! Online play now works. Die-hard Pro Evo fans will no doubt be both shocked and overjoyed to hear this.

Hated
Poor Man's Game - You'd think by now that Konami would realise that one of the chief areas that they're falling behind EA Sports is in securing the rights to use real team names and real team kits. Yet whether through lack of intent or simply a lack of resources, Pro Evo is still sorely lacking in official teams, particularly when it comes to international sides and, more importantly, the English Premier League, where only two teams — Liverpool and Man United — are available. Where five years ago it was "cute" going through and editing every team's name and kit to reflect their actual real-world appearance, now, it's just a pain in the ass.

Stiff As A Board - While faster than previous editions, Pro Evo is still far too slow. And I don't mean in the pace of the game, I mean in the pace of the players, who take far too long to take possession of the ball and take far too long to get rid of it. Football can often be a slow, methodical game, yes, but at times it also needs to be fast and fluid, something Pro Evo is still unable to really capture.

Be A Pro? We're Trying... - Much like FIFA, Pro Evo has a mode where you can create a player and assume control over just that player throughout their career, playing games not as an all-seeing football God, but just one of the lads. In FIFA, it's a joy to play, with constant feedback allowing you to both gauge your progress and revel in being a superstar. In Pro Evo, you're dropped into your career and just... left there, rarely knowing if you've had a good game or not. Without those trimmings, the game mode is simply 1v11, and that's no fun at all.

I like to think of the battle between FIFA and Pro Evo as one between Chelsea and Liverpool. FIFA is Chelsea. Once also-rans, enough money has been poured into them over enough time to simply guarantee success. They're brimming with talent all over the park, boast a large supporter base, and at the moment, are top of the table.

Pro Evo, meanwhile, is Liverpool. A series with a proud history and a willingness to compete, but in the modern era, they simply lack the resources to present the kind of depth and year-in, year-out challenge Chelsea can muster. Sure, in some areas they can pull level, and on the odd weekend (or even season) could overcome the Londoners, but overall, and in the long term, they're simply no longer in the same league.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 was developed and published by Konami for the Xbox 360 (version reviewed), PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PC, Wii and PSP. Released on October 23, retails for $59.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played all game modes in single-player, and several matches in multiplayer, both locally and online.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

According to analysts, the music industry will realign itself better with online distribution and "pick up speed".

Universal Music LLC is also on the table as a potential buyer, but insiders say Konami is the most likely purchaser. Victor Entertainment's music catalogue features acts like SMAP and Southern All Stars, two of the biggest selling music groups in Japan.

Producing records since 1928, Victor Entertainment was the music business of Victor Talking Machine Company's Japan branch and was spun off as a record company in 1972. It currently only has 7 percent market share in Japan, behind Universal Music, Avex and Sony Music Entertainment Japan.

JVC Kenwood hopes the sale will help the company focus on its core audiovisual product business.

Konami set to buy Victor's music business [DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE]

Not necessarily, but given Konami's flood of WiiWare versions of Contra, Gradius and Castlevania, released under the ReBirth moniker, it's clear the company isn't afraid of looking backward. The recently announced HD remake of Rocket Knight Adventures also shows that Konami isn't afraid of venturing into the more obscure.

But Jackal? The 1986 arcade game and its handful of console/PC ports didn't quite share the same success of its Konami created peers. It was a decent game, but not the type of Konami revival some of us are pining for.

The images of what appears to be Jackal, identified by reader Adam, were from a developer's production resume. It was the same developer who created the "Big Head Mode" papercraft head for a Halloween costume.

That developer, Eric Testroete of Vancouver based studio Deep Fried Entertainment, doesn't name the game as Jackal, simply referring to it as an "Undisclosed" and "Unannounced Project" for the Wii. It may never have made it past the prototype stage, but would be... interesting if it did.

We've contacted Konami to see if they'd like to comment. We'll update if they do.

Undisclosed Project - 2009 [Testroete.com - thanks, Adam!]

Later this week, Konami is expected to announce its earnings for the April-September 2009 period, and the company expects a 22.5 percent drop in revenues compared to the same period last year. The companies net income is expected to plummet to $24 million, an 81.6 percent drop.

Metal Gear Solid IV was released worldwide on June 12, 2008.

Even with the steep drop off, Konami does expect some sales growth during this fiscal year.

Konami projects 22.5% six-month sales slip [GameSpot]